Heart of Gold, Soul of Silver
by clarinet97
Summary: Ginan Montegomery doesn't want to go on a Pokémon journey, but will she find it so horrendous? Join her as she travels through Johto, finding friends, fighting foes, and discovering some shocking facts through it all. *Hopefully* Better rewrite of Johto Chronicles. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1: Bittersweet Beggining

**Hey everyone! So as you know, this is a re write from a Pokemon fanfiction I wrote some time ago, one I really hope to improve upon. So if you stumble across it, please don't hesitate to leave a review and tell me what things I need to build on, it'll really help me and this story out. And I'll also be glad to review all your excellent stories **** thanks! I shall also give out a place of virtual choice cookies to all reviewers! : D **

"Ginan dear! You coming?"

"Yeah, Mom!" Ginan Montegomery, a fourteen year old teenage girl and Newbark Town native, yelled out of her room dejectedly. For her, today with THE day. The day she finally had to start a Pokemon journey and wander around the entire Johto region like she had no life. "Totally ready to give up everything I've known, just to see some useless pokemon and wilderness," Ginan muttered bitterly under breath. With a sigh, she reached for her trusty pink travel pack, stuffed with goodies such as makeup, her trusty pokegear, a change of clothing, and some good old wads of cash she'd been consistently taking from her mother's purse for a good while. If her mother could sentence her to a life of trudging around the whole damn region, then she could take some of her money.

The teen brushed her chestnut hair back, and tied it into the thick braid she'd been working on. Looking at herself in her ceiling to floor, Ginan gave a small nod of approval. Dressed in a purple lace tank, comfortably fitting black leggings, and purple boots, she didn't look half bad for a journey, at least. She shot back one last wistful look at her bedroom, her bed was actually made and neatly draped for once, and her trusty Jigglypuff bean bag sitting in the corner had a forlorn look about it. "Well, I'll be back sometime, at least." Then, turning on her heel, she headed down the stairs into the kitchen.

Hey, Rex," Ginan greeted her mother's pet Delcatty, a remnant of her Hoenn days, as she plopped down at the table, where her mother had already laid out milk and cereal. Upon seeing this, Ginan gave a small frown. "Mom, you know that I don't eat this bran crap!" She commented at the unappealing brown flakes.

"Come on Honey, it's a good energy boost!" Bella Montegomery responded with a perky grin.

"Well, I think Rex already claimed it anyways," Ginan giggled as she got up and poured herself a bowl of full sugar and calorie frosted flakes, and began to dig in. Indeed, the Delcatty was munching down the flakes and licking the bowl's sides clean. "So do I have to go to the Nerd Herd lab or what?"

"Now Ginan, just be polite. But yes, Professor Elm is expecting you any time now, so go as soon as you finish your breakfast." Her mother responded tersely. "I'm sure he'll have some great Pokemon for you to pick out of. I remember starting my journey with Treeko all those years ago…''

"I can only hope so," Ginan murmured, finishing her cereal and hoisting up her pack. She had always thought that Elm was an enormous nerd, with his wire rimmed glasses, quirky hairstyle, and constant chatter of Pokemon, not that he wasn't a nice guy.

"I'm just…going to miss you so much!" Bella sighed, hugging her daughter tightly. "Be sure to check in from time to time, okay?"

"I could just not go," Ginan suggested idly, thinking about the horrors that the Johto wilderness could do to her primly styled hair and nails.

Her mother shook her head firmly. "No. It's an important part of growing up, and you're fourteen as it is, that's older than most kids are when they start out! Besides, I think it'll be an enriching experience for you, and I'm sure you'll come to enjoy it!"

Thinking about how untrue this probably was, and how much of a typical Mom thing it was today, Ginan exchanged a last goodbye, and headed out the door into the fresh Newbark morning. Leaves and grass crunched under her boots as she headed to the large white laboratory building at the North end of town. As she arrived, Ginan knocked hesitantly on the door, actually quite curious of what Pokemon might be inside for her to choose from. She heard some shuffling inside, and then the door swung opened to reveal a somewhat disheveled looking Professor Elm.

"Oh, hey there, Ginan!" He greeted her, putting his glasses back on. "Ah, so I presume you're for a Pokemon, right?"

"Er, yeah, I am, my Mom said…"

"Yes, well, come inside." Ginan followed the man into the lab, taking note of all the messy files and disoriented tables that lined the area. In the back, a circular machine stood, empty of the classic red and white pokeballs in its three slots. Elm rubbed his messy hairy nervously. "Well, Ginan…I do believe we have an issue. Two other trainer took two of the pokemon earlier this week, and just now, well….our last one was…stolen."

Ginan blinked. "Say what?"

"Yes, there was an angry fellow who came by just now…and snatched it up. Now, since I'm an elderly man, not in the shape I used to be, I can hardly run after the young fellow. Ginan, I was wondering if you could go after him. I've already called the police, but I know you'll be able to catch up to him." He quickly reached in to his lab coat pocket, and pulled out a pokeball, thrusting it into Ginan's hands. "Here, take this for now! He only has a few minutes head start, and I can lend you my bike, now go!" He pointed the black trainer's bike sitting in the corner.

"I wonder if this is what all beginning trainers have to go through…" Ginan muttered, hopping on the bike, and with no clue what she was doing, heading in the direction Elm pointed.

"Good luck, and call me if you need anything!" He yelled after her. With a nod, Ginan began pedaling furiously, her braid lifting in the light Newbark breezes. The path out of town was fairly straightforward, with only a few trees on tall grasses, and it was blacked by rugged slopes to the North, so the thief could really only have gone one way…

"Now let's see what you're made of!" Ginan heard a voice grunt to her left. Reeling around, she saw a teenage boy around her age, with red hair and eyes and dressed in all black clutching a pokeball. Realizing that this was probably the culprit, she hopped of her bike, and ran toward the criminal.

"Hey!" He wheeled around at the sound of her voice, and irritated look on his haughty pale face. "Is that pokemon…really yours? Professor Elm had one stolen…" He let out a nasty sneer.

"Well yeah, I took this pokemon from him, looked like it had some potential."

Ginan felt a twinge of irritancy inside of her. She had been meant to receive that pokemon, and this boy had just waltzed in and taken it. She wasn't going to let him get away with this. "Well, that pokemon was meant for me today, so I suggest you hand it back before I get a hold of you!"

The boy laughed again upon hearing this. "Don't tell me that you're going to try to stop me! You look like the weakest of the pathetic weak!" He threw forth his pokeball, revealing a small blue reptilian pokemon with a large snout and red spikes on its back on tail.

Ginan clutched the pokeball Elm had given her. "I think that's a Totodile…here goes nothing!" She threw forth her own pokeball, to reveal a petit cream colored dog like pokemon. Ginan grinned a bit upon seeing it. "Wow, an Eevee…so cute,"

"You can show your worth against this pest!" He told Totodile gruffly. "Use scratch!" The water type rushed at Eevee, its claws extended.

"Uh, try sand attack," Ginan said quickly, trying to think of what moves an Eevee could use. Nodding, the small pokemon kicked up some dirt into Totodile's face as it approached.

"Dile!" It grunted, rubbing its eyes.

"Follow up with a tackle!" Eevee rammed into its opponent, sending the small water type reeling backwards.

"Quick, use water gun!" The boy commanded. Totodile shot a small jet of water toward Eevee, who took the hit, reeling backwards with dripping fur. However, the normal type managed to shake it off, albeit weaker for the ware, and pawed at the grass.

Ginan smiled. "Eevee, try tackle again!" Eevee rushed forward once more and tackled Totodile, sending it skidding across the ground. Totodile snorted weakly, then collapsed, defeated. "Alright, good job, Eevee!" She turned to the redhead smugly. "Now that I had to battle you for it, are you going to give back that Totodile?"

He shook his head, smirking. "No. You only won by dumb luck, just like a typical weakling." He turned around, recalling Totodile. "Oh, name's Silver by the way. Remember that for next time when I crush you!"

Ginan was about to yell in protest, but just then, a loud motorcycle reared up, a police officer perched on the seat with Professor Elm in the back. Silver scowled, and then whipped out a grey orb, hurling it to the ground. At once, thick grey smoke obscured the area, making Ginan cough and sputter. After a few moments, the thick smoke cleared, and Silver was nowhere to be seen. "Ugh, that asshole got away…" She growled, then turned to Elm. "Sorry I couldn't get Totodile back."

The man patted her shoulder. "That okay, it's my fault for being so slow…anyway, why don't you come back to the lab with me? I'm sure the police will catch him soon enough anyhow." Ginan nodded, and the police officer drove the two back to Newbark, the bike in tow, and dropped them off in front of the lab. As the officer drove away, Elm looked at Ginan, and the pokeball still in her hand, and the small normal type at her feet.

"You did a great job today against that young fellow. From what I saw, you seemed to have a great bond with Eevee, so I think that you should keep her as your starter pokemon." He reached into his ever trusty pocket and pulled out five additional pokeballs, and a think white electronic device. "Here are more pokeballs, and your pokedex. With it, you can document pokemon you see, and it can serve as your trainer I.D. Now, one more thing, would you like to give a name to your Eevee?"

"A name?" She turned toward Eevee, thinking. "Hmm…what about…Bentlie?" The Evee let out a happy bark upon hearing this, pleased with the name. "Well then that's it, Bentlie!" She turned toward Elm. "Thanks for everything Sir!"

He gave her a kind smile. "No problem, I hope you can enjoy your journey, Ginan!"

"Well, I'll try to!" Ginan responded. Waving goodbye, she turned West, and headed out of Newbark.

**So what'd you think? Yay or nay? All thoughts are welcomed! And some questions…**

**Do you think Eevee is a good starter Pokemon for Ginan?**

**What is your opinion on Ginan so far?**

**What do you think she should catch?**


	2. Chapter 2: First Route, FIrst Catch

**Many thanks to the amazing Big B 007 for the kind review! Also, the offer of cookies still stands! Also, I just realized that Newbark town is actually New Bark town, but meh….I still wrote it the other way here. Anyways, enjoy and review ;) **

**P.S: Anyone reading this should check out the works of Big B 007, WitSicness, and Pokestets23 among others. They're all SUPERB writers! **

"You know, I could get used to this," Ginan sighed in content. The teen was seated at a small table on the patio of a café just outside Newbark town, where trainers came to rest up for a little while or get a nice caffeine fix. She took another sip of her wild berry smoothie, letting the delicious taste of crushed up Oran and Pecha berries slide down her throat. "Want some, Bentlie?" She pushed the cup toward the normal type seated on the table.

"Ee!" She squeaked, licking out some of the smoothie.

"I could just always do this, sitting at café's, drinking smoothies and coffee, wouldn't be so bad would it?" Ginan mused to herself, leaning back and letting the afternoon sun and beginning breezes caress her face.

"Oh, come on Ginan!" The girl sprang up upon hearing her name from a beautifully familiar voice.

"Jelly!" Ginan gasped, seeing the source's voice. It was Ginan's best friend Angelica, or as Ginan always called her Jelly. She'd moved to Hoenn last year, and Ginan hadn't seen her since. She rushed out of her chair to give her a euphoric hug. "What's up? I haven't seen you since you moved to Hoenn last year!" The teen grinned happily, taking in Angelica's summery Hoenn outfit of green shorts poking out underneath a white sundress.

Jelly smiled in response, brushing her shoulder length light brown hair behind her and adjusting her green bandanna. "Well, I recently finished with the Hoenn grand festival, so I decided to come back to Johto to go on another journey! Look," She paused, rummaging around in her bag, and pulling out a small pink case. "I already got my first Johto ribbon!"

"Wow that's great!" Ginan responded, as Bentlie hopped down from the table, and remembering Angelica telling her she'd become a Pokémon coordinator. "So you're travelling through Johto now?"

"Sure am!" Jelly nodded happily. "And…did you just get your first pokemon?"

Ginan petted Bentlie. "Yeah…my Mom made me go on a journey; well actually I just started this morning."

Angelica sat down across from Ginan, a grin on her heart shaped face. "Oh, look at little Ginan, starting a pokemon journey at last! Only…you haven't even made it completely out of her hometown yet!"

"Hey, I put my priorities first!" Ginan laughed, polishing off her smoothie. "Plus, I'm only taking a break, I had to catch a pokemon thief earlier before I could even get Bentlie!''

Angelica raised an eyebrow. "Oh, rough start? I remember before getting Coco, my Mudkip, I had to chase off some tiny Zigzagoon for professor Birch before he could realize they didn't even know proper attacks!" She giggled, remembering her Hoenn journey debut. "It was my first battle with my first pokemon…"

"Sounds like a fun time," Ginan smiled, putting down a few bills on the table to pay for her smoothie. "So where are you headed, Jelly?"

"Right now I'm on my way to Cherrygrove city, which is where my next contest is! What about you?" She responded, adjusting her white messenger bag over her green shorts.

Ginan bit her lip, awkwardly not really knowing the answer. "Uh…well I'm not really sure…I mean, I haven't even decided what I want to do with my journey yet…"

Angelica let out a guffaw. "Oh, come on Ginan, you don't even know that? Maybe you could enter the contest with me!"

"No thanks!'' Ginan said quickly. She wasn't too fond of large crowds starting at her, and most likely judging her as well. "Actually, why don't I ask Bentlie?" She turned towards her Eevee, who scratched her head for a moment, then pawed excitedly at the ground, hunching down into a battle ready position.

"Looks like she wants to battle," Angelica observed.

Ginan snapped her fingers. "Well, if that's the case, then maybe we could do gym battles. My Mom did those across all of Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh, and my Dad also…" She shook her head, not wanting to go into that touchy subject. "Anyway, I think that means I'll challenge the Johto gym circuit!" She finished happily, patting Bentlie's head.

"Sounds like a good plan," Angelica agreed. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it. I remember my friend Draco back in Hoenn challenged all the gyms, and he had a lot of fun with it. There was even this one gym, the seventh one, that had two leaders, and they challenged us in a tag battle, so I got to fight in a gym battle alongside him, it was pretty cool!" She pulled out a shiny looking badge from her bag. "Ta-da! My one and only gym badge!"

"Nice!" Ginan commented. "So, if I remember correctly, there's a gym in Violet city, which is North of Cherrygrove, so I guess I can come with you!"

Angelica brightened. "Yeah! That sounds like a good idea! So it looks like it's the two of us again, travelling together!"

Ginan hoisted her pack over her shoulders, ready to head off. "Just like old times! Oh, the escapades we used to have, like when we snuck out off together at night, and made it all the way to Kanto! Well, it wasn't as impressive when we realized it was only fifteen minutes from us, but still…good times." As the two reminisced over old adventures, they began walking on the route edging Newbark, or route 29 as a small wooden sign on indicated. As the twon disappeared behind them, Ginan felt a sense of accomplishment. She'd made it out of her hometown at least, that had to count for something. And she'd even been able to reunite with her best friend. Perhaps, with Jelly at her side, this journey would be so horrendous after all…just maybe.

The grass began growing thicker and deeper, with wild pokemon darting in and out. With the help of her pokedex, Ginan was able to decipher Pidgeys and a few Caterpies, but nothing that looked like extremely catchable material just yet; she probably just had to wait it out for a while.

"Ohmylugia I want that Pokemon!" Ginan gushed a split second later. A small, brown raccoon like pokemon with fluffy ears and white rings on its belly jumped down from a tree, landing gracefully and standing up on its busy striped tail, making it appear taller than it really was. "So cute! I'm going to check this out!'' She dug out her white device, quickly scanning the pokemon.

"Sentret, the Scout Pokemon. It stands on its tail so it can see a long way. If it spots an enemy, it cries loudly to warn its kind." The machine recited. Ginan grinned, stuffing the device in her pocket.

"Okay Bentlie, let's go!" With a determined cry, the Eevee leapt forward, going down into a battle stance. At this, the Sentret's eye's widened in alarm, and it let out a high pitch squeal. At once, at least a dozen other Sentret rushed out from nearby trees and bushes, all forming a mass behind the first one. "Oh…guess the pokedex didn't lie…" Ginan said nervously, stepping back.

"I can give you a hand…my first battle against wild Johto pokemon," Angelica put in happily, reaching for a pokeball. "Go, Jordy!" A small, red fox like pokemon popped out on the grass next to Bentlie, an eager look on his face.

"A Vulpix? Nice choice…you always wanted a Ninetales," Ginan said, nodding at the fire type.

Angelica nodded happily. "Yep! I caught this little guy right before leaving Hoenn! Good catch too. Now, Jordy use confuse ray!"

"Bentlie, you use sand attack!" As several Sentret began rushing forward, their small claws outreached for a group scratch attack, hypnotic blue waves shot forth from Jordy's eyes, travelling in intricate spirals toward the attackers, and rendering a few of them confused, wobbling around with no sense of direction. At the same time, Bentlie kicked up several clots of dirt, kicking up a small dust could around her, veiling her from the approaching normal types.

"Now, Jordy use ember!"A small flame began forming in Jordy's mouth, and as it shot it forward, he ran his six tails through it, making the flame split into six fire streams and hit all attacking Sentrets, as several more squeaks were emitted.

"Bentlie, tackle!" She rushed forward, sending several Sentrets skidding away. However, as the two pokemon continued their onslaught, the one Sentret that had been the first to fall from the tree suddenly burst forward, it paws extended, and nailed Bentlie right in the stomach, sending the Eevee flying backwards with a yelp of pain.

Angelica widened her eyes. "That's the most powerful one…he must be their pack leader or something!" She noted, and then spotted several more Sentret attacking Jordy. "Quick use tail whip!" Jordy's six tails each made a malevolent snapping sound, sending the attackers cowering away slightly.

"Tackle again!" At Ginan's command, Eevee suddenly rammed into the Sentrets surrounding Jordy, sending them skidding backwards. After several more moments, all the normal types had been dealt with except for the leader. He (as Ginan discovered from the pokedex) burst forward, ramming hard into Bentlie and sending her tumbling back. The now panting and bruised Eevee got back up, narrowing her eyes at the Sentret. In a flash of speed, she barreled forward, tackling the Sentret and pinning him to the ground. "Wow…was that a new attack?"

"I think so," Angelica nodded. "It looked like a quick attack to me…like a fast version of tackle. Anyway, try throwing a pokeball now! It looks weakened enough!"

"Right," Ginan nodded. She took out one of the pokeballs that Elm gave her alongside her pokedex and threw it forward. The small ball, contrary to her wishes, bounced off uselessly, as Angelica giggled again.

"Come on, Ginan, you have to enlarge it first!" She told the teen.

Ginan frowned. "Well, not all of us did this last year!" She quickly scooped up the pokeball again, and clicked the center button, causing the sphere to swell from the size of a ping pong ball to about that of a baseball, and hurled it forward again. This time, the ball let out a red flash of light and sucked Sentret inside. The ball shook for a few moments, the center button glowing a bright white shade. After about four or five shakes, the ball stopped moving, as the center button clicked and stopped shaking. Ginan walked forward, and gingerly scooped up the pokeball, a triumphant smile stretching across her face. "Great job, Bentlie. We caught a Sentret!"

**So Ginan caught a Sentret, that was always one of my favorite Johto pokemon…**

**Do you think she made a good first capture? **

**What do you think of Angelica so far?**

**Do you think Ginan's caught out for the gym challenges? **

**Thanks for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3: Contest Appeal

**I would've had this up yesterday, but I didn't have it quite finished. Oh well, hope you all enjoy! And thanks to WitSicness, Big B 007, and OwenG2107 for the reviews! **

"Here it is; Cherrygrove city!" Angelica declared as the two stood on a small hill just outside of Cherrygrove. To Ginan, it seemed somewhat misleading to call Cherrygrove a city. It was barely larger than Newbark town, boasting only a few roads and neighborhoods, a large white building with a prominent red roof, and a slightly smaller building right next to it with a blue roof. "That's the pokemon center," Angelica explained, pointing to the red roofed building. "Basically where we can sleep, eat, and get all out pokemon healed, like a trainer's home base in every city."

"It'd save us from having to tragically camp out," Ginan remarked as they headed into the city. "That does not sound like a good idea…ever. Just imagine all the nasty bug pokemon crawling around, ugh…" She shuddered at the visual. "Well, glad we have these, at least." They entered to pokemon center, which seemed like a rather cozy place. There was a large front desk with a pink haired lady and a large pink egg like pokemon, which Angelica explained to be like the assistant healers, Chansey. Ginan handed her two pokeballs over to the kindly nurse, and sat down in the lounge next to the desk, which contained the latest pokemon magazines and very comfortable sofas and arm chairs to fall asleep or cuddle up in. There was also a cafeteria area across from the lounge, with food for both trainers and pokemon.

While waiting for her pokemon to be healed, Ginan decided to check out the room that they'd rented for the night. It was rather small, having only a bunk bed, a small closet, and another door at the back, leading to a bathroom. While it wasn't the most posh lodging, Ginan was sure that it beat camping by a long shot. After inspecting their room, Ginan went back to the front desk to retrieve her pokeballs, and grabbed a ham sandwich from the cafeteria, as she waited for Angelica to retrieve her own pokemon as well, before going with her to register for the contest.

As it turned out, the contest hall was actually the second largest building in town behind the Pokemon Center. It consisted of a large dome on the outside, with a spacious, shiny floored lobby on the inside, beyond which were the male and female dressing rooms and the contest stage. As Angelica explained the outline of the contest, Ginan observed the multiple flat screen televisions lining the walls, which showed some of the highest rated recent contest appeals, the results of the latest contests, and special features of each judge, which turned out to be each town's localNurse Joy, Mr. Sukizo, an exuberant tiny man with a fondness for chanting "remarkable", and an older man in an elegant red suit known as Mr. Contesta.

As they approached the circulation desk, Angelica handed over her Johto contest pass to the receptionist, who in turn scanned it, and handed it back to her with a form to indicate which pokemon she would be using for the appeal and battle round.

"Appeal round?" Ginan asked, slightly confused. She had never really watched contests before.

"Oh, it's where each coordinator uses one pokemon, or sometimes even two, to make a dazzling display of their moves or abilities…I'm sure you'll see plenty of good ones in the contest today." She paused as she flipped the form over. "Well I'm using Coco for the appeal round, and then Felicity for the battle round.

"Felicity?" Ginan asked, confused. "Which of your pokemon is that?"

"Oh, my Mightyena," Angelica replied. "He was my capture back in Hoenn, after I got Coco, I'll show you!" She dug a pokeball out of her bag, and while she was at it, brought out her other two as well. "Let's go guys!" Out popped Coco, her large and motherly looking Swampert, Jordy, and a black and grey wolf like creature that looked quite fierce.

"Wow, Felicity looks intense!" Ginan noted as she took out her pokedex.

"Mightyena, the Bite Pokémon. Mightyena is the evolved form of Poochyena. They move primarily in packs, working together to capture their prey." It read.

"Felicity's total loyal, and a good pokemon too!" Angelica said as she patted her head, and he rubbed against her. "Hey, why don't you bring out your pokemon?"

"Good idea," Ginan responded, taking out her two pokemon, and releasing them. "That reminds me…I haven't even named Sentret yet…" She paused, observing the normal type as he gave her quizzical look. "Hm, what about Whiskers?" Ginan asked, taking in the cute little whiskers on Sentret's face. "It sounds cute! What do you think?" Sentret shrugged, giving out a small squeak.

"Looks like he's good with it," Angelica laughed.

"My, my Angelica, are those all your pokemon?" A teasing voice behind them asked. Angelica whipped around.

"George!" She gasped happily, throwing her arms around a tall red haired boy. As she pulled away, Ginan could see that he was rather good looking. He wore black pants along with a white shirt with a bright red body warmer that somehow matched perfectly with his flaming hair. She grinned slightly. Ginan didn't know Angelica was into redheads. "What's up?"

"You know, just entering another Johto contest," He replied. "But it seems you've already put together quite a collection of Johto pokemon."

"Oh, no those aren't all mine, just Coco, Felicity, and the Vulpix," Angelica put in. The other two are Ginan's, oh, this is George, by the way," Angelica told Ginan, gesturing to George.

"Pleased to meet you," George smiled warmly, shaking her hand, and winking at her, earning an elbow jab from Angelica.

"Come on now, she's not up for that kind of thing," Angelica laughed, although Ginan could catch a thin edge of jealousy in her voice, making Ginan crack another grin. The two had definitely had a thing. "George, I've been meaning to ask you, have you heard anything about Draco yet?"

He shook his head, his care free appearance disappearing. "No, I'm sorry."

Angelica nodded, biting her lip. "That's fine."

"Wait, what happened with Draco?" Ginan asked, remembering Angelica mentioning his name before.

Angelica's face darkened as if somewhat had flipped a light switch. "Very long story…Oh, I lost track of time! Appeals start in fifteen minutes, better get changed!" Exchanging a quick good bye with George, she rushed off with Ginan to the dressing room. It seemed quite plush, with multiple squishy velvet sofas, flat screen T.V's, and floor to ceiling mirrors. Ginan supposed that it served as a small form of comfort to nervous coordinators about to appeal. As she took in the surroundings, Angelica changed into her fancy contest outfit, a sparkling strapless periwinkle dress with matching flats.

"That looks pretty!" Ginan approved, "Very classy."

"Thanks, I got it at discount at the Lilycove department store, great shopping!'' She responded, taking out Coco's pokeball and wiping it with a cleaning cloth. Ginan nodded, hoping that there was a Johto equivalent to the Lilycove department store.

"First coordinator, please," A bouncer poking his head into the room declared. At this, a nervous looking coordinator stood up and walked out to stage.

With that, the appeals began passing. Some were dazzling, others less than satisfactory. Ginan felt particularly sorry for the coordinator that confused his own Zubat with its supersonic appeal. After about six appeals, Ginan saw George step out onto the stage, wearing an elegant emerald suit that complemented his red hair. He managed to put out a stunning appeal by having a Blaziken, which Angelica remembered as his starter, demolish an entire focus blast attack with its blaze kick, cloaking the entire stage in energy charged sparkles and embers. Two more appeals passed and it was Angelica's turn.

"Good luck," Ginan said, patting her back as she began to exit the room.

"Let's go, Coco!" Angelica shouted upon entering the stage. In a flash of light, her Swampert appeared, poised and ready. "Use water pulse!" With that command, Coco formed a large sphere of sparkling blue water in her mouth, and then shot it upward in a delicate spinning motion, making beautiful spirals of water al around the stage. "Now use ice punch!" Fist glowing light blue, Coco punched it into the nearest spiral of water. At once, all the water spirals around the stage froze solid, emitting a glowing blue light "Aqua tail!" Her tail glowed blue as she slammed it against the ground, then jumped all the way up on top of the ice, landing on the nearest spiral, and causing the ground to cheer loudly as Angelica bowed.

"Nice one!" Ginan high-fived Angelica as she returned to the dressing room, a relieved smile on her face. "That was quite the impressive appeal right there."

"Well, thanks," Angelica grinned back, returning Coco's pokeball to her pouch, and pulling out another, presumably Felicity's.

"Hey, I'm going to go on a little walk, check out that small beach on the edge of town," Ginan told Angelica, standing up and stretching. As Angelica consented and returned to checking out other's appeals, Ginan turned and exited the Contest Hall, taking in more of Cherrygrove city. It was still rather quaint, reminding her more of New Bark town, but with only slightly more action. Small bunches of pink wildflowers dotted the blowing green grass, and wild pokemon such as Pidgey and Rattata passed by every now and then.

"Ah, here we are," Ginan sighed as she felt the soft white sand under her boots, and smelled the salt sea that she'd always loved. The beach was not much at all, however. It was about the size of the pokemon center's lobby, and lined with craggy rocks. The rolling aquamarine water crashed in small waves onto the shore, and Ginan only caught sight of a few Magikharp in the water.

"Guess I should head back," She mused as she dipped her boot into the cool water. As the teen began turning around, a brilliant flash of blue light beamed into the corner of her eye. Slowly turning her back, Ginan caught the sight of what she was certain was a Legendary Pokemon staring right at her.

**Dun dun duuuuun what could it possibly be? Stay tuned to find out! **


	4. Chapter 4: Battles

**Sorry for the late update, I've been so busy with school and such recently. Anyhow, thanks to pokestets23, Witsicness, Big B 007, and Owen G2107 for the reviews! Next update will probably be next weekend **** Enjoy! **

Blue light shined brightly on the dull, choppy seawater as Ginan felt a distinct Northward breeze ruffle her hair, and tingle her skin, making goose bumps flare up around her entire body even though it was hardly cold. As she widened her awed eyes, Ginan took sight of what seemed like a creature that was both feline and canine staring back at her. Long, graceful streamers stemming from its back danced gracefully in the wind, and a purple mane floated along with it. It also had a dark blue crown like object sticking up from it head. Its body was the same blue shade as the light, except for a white underbelly and several white diamond patterns on its body as well.

Hands shaking, Ginan withdrew her pokedex, and held it out, pointing the device intently at the pokemon. "Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon. It travels the world and purifies water wherever it goes, sailing on the North Wind."

"Wow…it's so…mystical, and…" Ginan cut herself off as Suicune crouched low. As it stared back at her, the legendary suddenly reared its head and sped off, running on the water as it went, and stirring up more Northern breezes. "Incredible…" The teen eagerly poked around more on her pokedex, suddenly wanting to find out more information about Suicune.

"Oh please, you can't really have seen Suicuine," A cold voice behind Ginan drawled. Frowning, she put away her pokedex and turned around. The redhead menace who'd stolen Elm's pokemon stared back at her, a scoffing glare in his scarlet eyes. "It's practically only a legend, and one of the rarest pokemon in the entire world, I'm surprised that you even knew about it."

Ignoring the fact that she actually didn't really know about Suicune until just before she saw it, Ginan rounded on Silver. "What? Is your ultimate dream to steal that pokemon too or something? To have it in your disgusting clutches?"

He smirked, rolling his eyes at her. "Weak trainers are so naïve…no, I would simply love the prospect of having a powerful legendary like Suicune to command and use."

"Basically stealing it," Ginan growled under her breath. "Well, I doubt you'd ever get close enough to even catch a glimpse of it, it'd probably smell you from ten miles away!"

Silver scowled angrily, taking out a pokeball. "Such impudent and rude trainers like you are going to make this world collapse," He muttered with seething venom. "Go!" The teen boy threw forward his pokeball too reveal a small blue bat like creature.

"Ugh, a Zubat," Ginan wrinkled her nose. "Almost worse than a nasty bug type, let's go, Whiskers!" She threw forward her own pokeball to reveal her battle ready Sentret.

"Use poison sting!" Silver began. His Zubat fired off a small barrage of purple needles at Whiskers, who winced and jumped out of the way as the needles hit the sand.

"Use quick attack!" Ginan yelled back, as Whiskers charged forward with a burst of speed, managing to nail Zubat, and send it skidding backwards.

"Supersonic!" The Zubat scrambled back up, and sent out a high pitched screech that made Whiskers immediately start wobbling around, utterly confused.

"Whiskers?" Ginan asked in awe as the normal type continued aimlessly milling about.

"Finish that pathetic thing with poison sting!"

"Return!" As Silver's Zubat fired off more poisonous darts, Ginan quickly thrust out Whisker's pokeball, recalling the normal type.

"Retreating when things get touch, such a weakling strategy…" Silver snorted with a smirk.

Ginan shot the arrogant red head a glare. "Oh I'll show you weak! Let's go, Bentlie!" Her Eevee jumped out if it's pokeball with a bark, facing Zubat.

"Use leech life!" Silver shouted. His Zubat flew in towards Bentlie, its fangs glowing.

"No, Bentlie, sand attack!" As the poison type hovered near, Bentlie kicked up a gale of sand that clouded the Zubat from sight, as Silver suddenly let out a guffaw. To Ginan's shock, the Zubat flew right through the sand, and sank its fang into Bentlie.

"You must really be stupid!" Silver laughed. A pokemon like Zubat finds its way around by detecting sound waves in the air; it never relies on its eye sight!"

Ginan narrowed her gaze. "You want some sound, Bentlie use growl!" As Zubat bit into the Eevee, she let out an ominous growl, which made Zubat back off at once. "Follow it up with quick attack!" Bentlie shot forth with a burst speed like Whiskers had earlier, slamming into the Zubat and knocking it to the ground, unconscious. "Who's the weak one now?" Ginan taunted.

Silver scowled as he returned his fallen pokemon, and then took out another pokeball. He threw it forth to reveal his Totodile. "Water gun, now!" With a jump, the water type unleashed a small jet of water from its snout toward Bentlie, who quickly jumped aside, yet was still sprayed with water.

"Tackle!" Ginan called as her Eevee charged forth towards Totodile.

"Counter with scratch!" At the same time, the two pokemon impacted, Bentlie ramming herself into Totodile, and the water type running its claws against her. With yelps of pain, both pokemon skidded backwards. "Now, water gun!" Totodile blasted another jet of water towards Bentlie. This time, the spray hit her right in the face, and she was blasted backwards, defeated. Silver smirked. "How pathetic, defeated by a couple sprays of water."

"I'm not done by a long shot!" Ginan retorted. "Finish it, Whiskers!" The Sentret jumped from his pokeball with an eager squeak. "Go for a quick attack!" With another burst of speed, Whiskers flew forward, and hit Totodile in the stomach.

"Use scratch!" Silver barked. His water type nodded and slashed its claws toward Whiskers.

"Quick attack, once more!" The teen girl cried. The Sentret easily outsped Totodile, and nailed it with its high speed attack once more, this time knocking it back into the sand, defeated.

Silver returned his Totodile with a frown. "Once again you cheaply outclass me with ineffective and cowardly strategies," He sighed. "One day, you'll be exposed for what you really are, a weak and stupid little girl."

Ginan rolled her eyes in response. She figured Silver was just probably one of those people who was insecure so he always yammered at people to make himself feel better. What a loser. "Whatever, anything else I can help you with?"

"Nothing, yet…" He growled. At this, the redheaded teen turned and stalked into the bushes and trees bordering Cherrygrove, disappearing.

"He has issues," Ginan shrugged, looking at Whiskers. "Come on, we should get back to the contest hall, I'll bet the results for the next round should be soon!"

"Sen!" He consented as the two turned and jogged back to the hall, eager to see if any results had been posted.

"Oh, there you are!" Angelica grinned as Ginan walked up next to her, panting, in the locker room. "The results are about to be posted," she said nervously, fixed on the flashing screen on the wall. "So, good time at the beach?"

"Kind of," Ginan answered. "There wasn't much to it, but I was confronted by that same guy who I had to track down after he robbed Elm's lab, and he battled me…of course, I won," She said smugly. "But before he came, I think…I think I saw a legendary pokemon."

"What?" Angelica gasped, ripping her fixated eyes away from the screen. "You think so? That's major, Ginan! Which one was it?"

"This one," Ginan muttered nervously, taking out her pokedex and showing her Suicune's data. Angelica widened her eyes.

"Wow….that, well that's incredible!" Angelica breathed. She patted her friend's back. "But maybe it means good luck for your journey, eh?"

"I can only hope," Ginan answered. Just then, the announcer's voice broke through, announcing results for the next round. Angelica tightened her jaw and whirled back toward the T.V, her hands in fists. One by one, four pictures flashed across the screen. There was George's, somebody else's, and then Angelica's. The coordinator gave a mighty sigh of relief upon seeing her portrait, and relaxed, taking out Felicity's pokeball.

"Here I go," She said, straightening her dress and walking out onto the stage.

"And there you have it!" Angelica wins her semifinal match by knocking out her opponent's gloom with her Mightyena's dark pulse and crunch combination! She'll be headed to the final match against her own hometown rival, George!" Ginan grinned and clapped excitedly as this announcement flashed across the screen, excited to see a battle between the former lovebirds and rivals. A few moments passed as a couple of Johto contest advertisements passed by on the screen, and it resumed, showing George and Angelica standing on different edges of the stage, poised and ready. "Five minutes remains begin!"

"Let's do it, Felicity!" Angelica revealed her Mightyena while George released a medium sized green frog like pokemon, which Ginan identified as a Politoad.

"Felicity, start with shadow ball!" Angelica began, motioning at Politoad. Felicity fired a crackling purple orb from her mouth, which sailed toward the water type.

"Politoad, double slap!" George instructed. As the shadow ball came toward it, Politoad suddenly let loose a plethora of slaps, which started tearing the attack apart, creating a dark purple haze in front of Politoad, as Angelica's points dropped slightly.

"Amazing, George used Angelica's own attack against her to create a screen for his pokemon!" The announcer awed as Angelica gritted her teeth.

"Now, use dark pulse and crunch!" She instructed her Mightyena. Felicity started letting forth a wave of crackling dark energy, but bit down on it with glowing jaws as it spread. The result was Felicity's large snout radiating with a fierce purple shade as she snapped at Politoad.

"Water pulse!" George continued. At this, Politoad summoned an orb of blue water between it hands and slammed it to the ground, creating a large wave of water headed for Felicity.

"Iron tail!" Angelica smirked. Her dark type's tail glowed a bright chrome shade as the wave came in, then slammed the appendage against the incoming water, disbanding the wave and creating blue and silver sparkles around Felicity as George's points dropped by a bit. "Dark pulse!" She followed up. Felicity released a wave of dark energy from her crackling jaws, which slammed into Politoad, lowering George's points even more.

"Blizzard!" The male coordinator ordered.

"Throw them a shadow ball!"

Politoad released a mighty gale of icy snow, while Felicity fired off another shadow ball. The ghost type attack met a portion of the blizzard head on, and abruptly froze over as the remainder of the icy attack blew over Felicity, causing a another drop in Angelica's points.

"Quick, iron tai!" Felicity jumped up and slammed her chrome tail into the icy purple orb, sending it zooming towards Politoad. The water type let out a screech of pain as it was hit, this time making George's points drop.

"Use blizzard and water pulse!" He yelled, desperate to counter Angelica's onslaught. Conjuring another wave, Politoad sent it flying with another icy storm. The frozen wave sped toward Felicity, slamming into the dark type as Angelica's points dropped yet more. "Now, go in with wake up slap!" With a glowing hand, Politoad leapt toward the Mightyena, who scrambled back up.

Angelica growled. "No he doesn't! Dark pulse and crunch, again!" Felicity bit into a wave of dark energy once more, making her jaws shine even more. "Now!"

Politoad drew near, ready to slap Felicity, but before it did, the dark type bit into it, hard. Politoad screeched in pain while Felicity threw if roughly across the stage as the buzzer went off.

Both George and Angelica immediately looked toward the scoreboard, where they seemed to be quite even, both having lost over half their points. A small, nerve racking pause ensued, and then the announcer broke in.

"And it looks like the grand winner of the Cherrygrove contest is Angelica!" The crowd cheered and Ginan gave a small whoop of delight for her friend. Grinning widely, Angelica and Felicity bowed, and accepted the red and purple Cherrygrove ribbon from Mr. Contesta before walking off the stage.

You did it, Jelly!" Ginan laughed as she embraced the victorious coordinator. "Nice one!"

"Thanks," She replied, thanking and returning Felicity. "I was getting pretty nervous there. Anyway, I'm thinking we should head to Violet city next. I don't know about you, but I've pretty much seen this whole town already!"

"Agreed!" Ginan smiled. "It's almost even more boring than Newbark. So I guess it's my gym battle coming up soon then!"


	5. Chapter 5: Violet City and Sprout Tower

"That has got to be one of the world's most useless routes," Ginan pointed out as her and Angelica stood at the entrance to Violet city, having left Cherrygrove earlier that morning after Angelica's contest victory.

The coordinator frowned. "Yeah…that was a pretty useless route, actually. Not even the most secluded routes in Hoenn were like that."

The teen shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, I guess Johto can be a little rural at times. The path from Cherrygrove didn't have much except for some shrubs, and a few creepy bugs." Chattering away, the two girls entered Violet city together. Draped in a rustic hue, the city looked like a replica of sorts from the past. Wide cobblestoned streets crisscrossed through it, and the buildings were all faded, and had an old time look to them. Even the pokemon center and pokemart seemed as if they had blended into the historic scenery. "Well, this city is pretty at least…" Ginan remarked as they made their way to the pokemon center.

As they entered what was possibly the newest and most innovated building the city had to offer, Angelica went to make a room reservation, and Ginan snagged a bag of chips from the cafeteria, and sat down in the longue, grabbing an edition of Pokemon Trainer Digest from the coffee table. As she flipped through the pages, reading about various gyms and the best up and coming pokemon trainers, she heard a delicate voice above her.

"Excuse me, are you Ginan Montgomery?" Ginan looked up to see a pretty black haired lady in an elegant pink and green kimono standing above her.

"That's me," Ginan responded, wondering if her mother had sent this lady.

"My name is Zuki," She explained, reaching into the broad silk bag she was carrying. "Professor Elm sent me to give you this," Zuki pulled out a large white oval with small pink and blue triangles on it, sealed in a cylindrical incubator.

The aspiring trainer marveled as she accepted the item. "Wow… this looks like a pokemon egg!"

The Kimono girl smiled. "Indeed, it is. Professor elm believed that it would be best off with a new trainer like you. Well, take good care off it!"

"Thanks, I'll be sure to!" Ginan replied as Zuki bowed politely and exited the center.

"Nice egg," Angelica commented as she plopped down next to Ginan. "It looks like it'll hatch into something good!"

Ginan smiled. "I bet it will," She rubbed the warm incubator. "It's so warm and cozy to hold this…like there's a little beating heart in there. Well, I'm really glad that Elm trusted me with this egg in any case."

Angelica nodded in consensus. "Pokemon eggs are always great. I remember seeing plenty of them back in Hoenn, hatching into all sorts of cute babies," She reminisced. "But anyway, do you have a plan for the next gym yet?"

"Oh right," Ginan sat up, leafing through her magazine. "I saw something in here about the Violet city gym…ah, here it is." The trainer pointed to a page at the beginning, portraying a purple haired man, the gym leader Falkner. "Well that sounds boring, it says in here that I have to get all the way through the Sprout tower before I can challenge the gym," She frowned, reading over the following page showing a large and rustic tower that seemed to sway back and forth with the wind. "That tower doesn't even look safe."

"The whole thing is probably just a test for beginning trainers, and it would be good to get some training in before your battle," Angelica reasoned as she glanced over another coordinating magazine. "You'll be fine."

Ginan tossed the magazine back onto the coffee table. "Well, I hope so," She sighed and glanced out of the window, where the aged and historical city seemed to glimmer a deep violet in the afternoon sunshine, casting a mystical aura around the place. "But since it's getting late as it is, why don't I just get it over with now?"

"I don't see why not. And actually, I think I'll come with you," Angelica replied, tucking her freshly maintained pokeballs with her rested pokemon into her front pocket, as Ginan did the same with Bentlie and Whisker's pokeballs. "I could use a bit of extra training too, and I kind of want to see the tower for myself."

"Great, it'll be more entertaining with the two of us," Ginan laughed; as the two rounded out the door and made their way across the archaic city to the tower, which lay on the Northern end. Sprout tower itself was rather tall, being three or four stories high. It was made of old and battered brown wood with three purple roofs, and a golden tip pointing to the heavens. The whole structure actually swayed slightly in the breeze, balancing along with the wind. For a moment, Ginan wondered if it was actually safe, but then again she knew monks practically made their whole lives in the tower, so it was probably just some sort of strange technique.

The smell of musty cloth and old men struck the girl's noses as they entered the structure, and a number of Rattata and small green plant pokemon they identified as Bellsprouts scuttled in the corners. Ginan wondered how anyone could stand this creepy old place, let out alone live in it.

"Ah, trainers I see," Angelica and Ginan turned to see an old monk clad in unflattering black robes walking toward them, pulling a pokeball out of his sleeve. "Care for a battle?"

"You bet," Ginan grinned, stepping forward while withdrawing her own pokeball. "Just think…after I beat all these guys, my first gym is next! Let's do it, Whiskers!" She tossed her pokeball forward to reveal her Sentret, while the monk released a Bellsprout like the ones they'd seen crawling around earlier.

"Vine whip!" Her opponent began. His Bellsprout unleashed a green vine which it slashed forward.

"Use quick attack to dodge, then strike!" Ginan countered, smiling at when of her favorite strategies to use so far. Whiskers shot upwards and past the vine with a burst of speed, and then nailed the grass type head on, as the small flower pokemon reeled backwards. "Now, scratch!"

"Vine whip again, Bellsprout," As Whiskers reached its claw in toward the grass type; it unleashed another vine, this time catching the normal type's arm before throwing backwards. "Try one more!"

Ginan bit her lip. "Whiskers, try using defense curl!" As the green whip prepared to whip him again, the Sentret curled up tightly, causing the vine whip to bounce off with less of an impact. "Quick attack!" Whiskers burst forth once more, hitting Bellsprout with another speedy impact, as the pokemon fell backward in defeat.

"Nice one!" Angelica clapped as the monk recalled his Bellsprout.

"Indeed, well done, best of luck in your future challenges," He bowed before walking back off into the depths of the tower.

The victorious trainer grinned alongside her Sentret as the three advanced up the next rickety latter. As they did so, the entire tower began to shake again, as Ginan grabbed the railing with a yelp of fright.

"Guess there's a battle going on here somewhere," Angelica noted as she carefully clambered off the ladder.

"Ugh, that just freaks me out every time," Ginan sighed as she began walking again, the flimsy floorboards creaking under her feet. The two girls began advancing through the floor, finding some more Bellsprout and Rattata and a few miscellaneous items.

"More young trainers, I see,"

"A fun challenge," Two monks emerged out of the shadows, clutching pokeballs. "I presume you two girls are here for the challenge, yes?" The first asked a slight grin on his face.

"That's right!" The duo responded together, taking out their pokeballs.

"This should be a fun challenge, Jordy," Angelica called, releasing her Vulpix.

Ginan grabbed Bentlie's pokeball. "Let's go for round two!"

Meanwhile, the two monks each sent forth their pokemon, which consisted of another Bellsprout and a small brown owl that Ginan identified as a Hoothoot.

"Start with ember on Bellsprout!" Jordy shot a barrage of small flames at the grass type, who quickly leaned back, avoiding the onslaught.

"Peck!" Hoothoot rushed forward, and jabbed Bentlie with its beak, causing the Eevee to squeak in pain.

"Fight back with tackle!" Ginan commanded. Her Eevee nodded and rammed into Hoothoot, sending the owl pokemon reeling backwards.

Angelica pointed forward. "Jordy, go in with quick attack!" Jordy rushed forward and rammed into Hoothoot, supplementing Bentlie's attack.

"Bellsprout, vine whip!" At this, the grass type unleashed a green vine to whip its opponents, slapping Bentlie and Jordy. The two pokemon winced and retreated, as Hoothoot dipped down.

"Leer," Its owner commanded. The owl pokemon's large, bright eyes flashed in an intimidating manner at Bentlie and Jordy, who gulped in fear and retreated back even further.

"Bentlie, try and get back in there with sand attack!" Ginan tried. Her Eevee kicked up a small cloud of sand into Hoothoot's face, causing the flying type to squawk and shake its head feverishly.

"Follow it up with ember, Jordy!" At this, the Vulpix let forth a hail of small flames at Bellsprout who took the attack right on, wincing in pain. "Finish with quick attack!"

"Vine whip!" Jordy rushed forward just as the grass type let loose it grassy whip, deflecting the quick attack.

Ginan glanced over at the Bellsprout, and then at Hoothoot, who was still struggling with the sand in its eyes. "Bentlie, use tackle on Bellsprout," She ordered, wanting to take the grass type out. Nodding, the normal type charged toward Bellsprout and hit it hard with its full body strength, causing the Sprout pokemon to wilt and fall down in defeat, as the monk recalled it, praising its effort.

"Jordie, use ember on that Hoothoot!" Angelica followed up. Jordy fired off another round of flames, which barely missed the elusive owl as it drifted upward, having gotten most of the sand out of its eye.

"Hoothoot, use peck!" The second monk commanded pointing at Bentlie and Jordie. With a hoot, the flying type swooped down and harshly pecked at the two pokemon with its beak, as they yelped and sprang aside, obviously impacted.

"It's doing more because of that leer," Angelica muttered. "Jordie, counter it with quick attack!"

"You too, Bentlie!" Jordy crouched down and sprang up at Hoothoot with a burst of speed, as Bentlie did the same. The double onslaught proved too much for the small owl, and it plummeted to the floor, knocked out.

"Yes! Nice going, guys!" Angelica and Ginan complemented their pokemon as the monk returned his Hoothoot. He smiled and bowed politely to the two girls, then slinked back into the depths of the tower.

Angelica turned to Ginan. "I think there's only one floor left! We're almost through!" The two turned to the rickety ladder and clambered up it, steadying them as the tower swayed again.

"Only one more battle left before I can finally challenge the gym!" Ginan chirped happily as the two emerged onto the last floor. Ginan immediately frowned and furrowed her brow as she saw her red haired nemesis, Silver, standing there. A portly man with white brows and a white beard stood before him. The two exchanged a few words before Silver snorted, and slid down a rope to exit the tower. Ginan glared after him, wishing such assholes did not have to exist on her journey.

"Ah, welcome!" The old monk said happily as he saw Ginan and Angelica. "Are you both here for the Sprout tower challenge?"

Ginan stepped forward. "No, only me, I'd like to be able to challenge the Violet gym as well."

The elderly monk grinned. "Well, you'll have to defeat me first. I am Elder Li, the head monk here and the last object for trainers wishing to challenge the gym. Now then, shall we get started?"

The teen grinned and withdrew a pokeball, actually feeling a rush of excitement before starting this battle. "You bet! Let's go, Whiskers!" Her Sentret squeaked and stood up high on his tail, ready for battle, as Li called out his pokemon, which proved to be yet another Bellsprout.

"You may have the first move," He told Ginan kindly.

"Okay then, use scratch!" She commanded as Whiskers clambered forward, his paw outstretched.

"Vine whip!" Bellsprout's whip caught Whiskers' arm, stopping him in place. "Throw it back!" The grass type obeyed, and hurled the ensnared Sentret back toward the wall. He crashed into it and quickly struggle back to his feet, looking slightly disorientated.

"Whiskers, quick attack!" The normal type grunted, then shot forth with a burst of speed, managing to whack the Bellsprout's flower and send it stumbling back.

"Vine whip once more!"

"Scratch!" As the green whip lashed out, Whiskers quickly scratched his way through it and hit Bellsprout with his outreached paw. The poison type wince and tumbled back, knocked out. Ginan grinned as Li returned Bellsprout and took out another pokeball, this one revealing another Hoothoot like the one they'd just battled.

"Start with scratch again!" Ginan said, wanting to get in close. Whiskers outstretched his paw again and lunged toward the flying type, who quickly flitted aside.

"Hypnosis," Li commanded. As Whiskers stepped back, Hoothoot bent down and look him in the eye, his own large, orb like eyes glowing a bright white and emitting truncating waves of energy. At this, Whiskers yawned and drooped down, fast asleep.

"No!" Ginan gasped as Hoothoot hovered around her normal type.

"Peck," Li commanded calmly. Hoothoot swooped down and barraged the sleeping Sentret with its beak, hitting him all over.

"Whiskers, wake up!" Ginan pleaded, but to no avail. With a last sharp and precise peck, Hoothoot rammed Whiskers in the side, and sent him crashing into the wall, out called. "You did really good, return," She said, biting her lip and releasing Bentlie.

"Hypnosis once more," Li instructed calmly.

Ginan shook her head. "Not again, use sand attack!" As Hoothoot's glowing eyes bared down and Bentlie, she turned and kicked up a gale of dust right into the flying type's face, stopping the attack at once. "Quick attack!" Bentlie jumped up and tackled into Hoothoot with a burst of speed, sending the owl floating away.

Li rubbed his chin, squinting at Bentlie. "Use peck now." His Hoothoot hooted in approval, then fluttered down toward the Eevee, giving her a sharp peck of its beak.

"Sand attack again!" Ginan countered. However, Hoothoot quickly avoided the gale of dust and proceeded to peck Bentlie again. She stood up and grunted, facing Hoothoot. As the flying type flew in once more, she lifted her tail, waved it against Hoothoot's body, ruffling its feather and causing it to squeal and roll about. The trainer blinked, and then shrugged. "Tackle!" With Hoothoot's guard down, Bentlie easily rammed into it and sent it sprawling back. "Follow up with quick attack!" As Hoothoot drifted back up, Bentlie quickly sent it flying with another speedy attack, this time knocking the owl out.

"Excellent job indeed," Elder Li said as he recalled his Hoothoot. "You and your pokemon have proven yourselves worthy to battle the gym here. But always remember, like the young man before you seemed to forget, that pokemon are not tools, but our friends and companions."

"Thanks, and I'll remember," Ginan replied, smiling and petting Bentlie. The Elder and her exchanged bows before he walked back off into the tower.

The victorious trainer turned to her pokemon. "Hey, what was that technique you used by tickling his Hoothoot?"

"I think it's the attack tickle," Angelica explained, looking at her pokedex screen. "It's a move Bentlie must have picked up from one of her parents.

Ginan laughed and scratched Bentlie's ears. "Well, that was a nice move you showed us there!" She returned her exhausted pokemon, and slipped down the exit rope with Angelica, eagerly anticipating the Violet City Gym.


End file.
